1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air pump for an inflatable article, especially to a compact air pump with rapid rate of inflation.
2. Description of the Prior Art(s)
Air pumps are connected to inflatable articles such as airbeds, inflatable trampolines, inflatable sofas, large-sized inflatable toys and the like and inflate or deflate the inflatable articles for use or storage.
The conventional air pump for the inflatable article has a housing having an impeller, a motor, an electromagnetic valve, an air valve and a slider mounted in the housing. The housing has an inner hole formed through a sidewall of the housing and an outer hole formed through a bottom of the housing. The motor is connected to and rotates the impeller at high speed to create an airflow. The electromagnetic valve has a shaft. The air valve is connected to an end of the shaft of the electromagnetic valve and corresponds to the inner hole of the housing. The slider is connected to another end of the shaft of the electromagnetic valve and corresponds to the outer hole of the housing.
As the motor rotates the impeller, the electromagnetic valve controls the air valve to selectively open or close the inner hole of the housing and simultaneously the electromagnetic valve slides the slider to switch directions of the airflow to inflate or deflate an inflatable article.
However, since the air valve and the slider are both driven by the shaft of the electromagnetic valve, the inner and outer holes of the housing have to be formed respectively on the sidewall and the bottom of the housing. Thus, while inflating, the airflow flows from the bottom toward the sidewall of the housing. As a path of the airflow is curved, flowing distance and resistance of the airflow in the housing are increased. Therefore, inflating the inflatable article with the conventional air pump is slow.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an air pump for an inflatable article to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.